Immunogen and antivenom against violin spider venom

ABSTRACT

The invention relates to the isolation, characterization and expression of DNA fragments encoding sphingomyelinases D from three species of Loxosceles genus spiders, namely L. boneti, L reclusa and L. laeta, and the toxoids thereof. The invention also relates to the production of active sphingomyelinases D and the toxoids thereof using recombinant means and to the use of same as an immunogen for the production in vertebrates of antibodies that neutralise the corresponding venom and the respective fragments F(ab′)2. The invention further relates to the use of recombinant sphingomyelinases D as part of an antigen matrix which can be used in the immunopurification of antibodies and the fragments thereof or as part of any diagnostic device used to obtain clinical confirmation that the causal agent of poisoning in a patient is a spider of the Loxosceles genus. In addition, the invention includes molecular vectors for the expression of the DNA fragments, strains comprising same, which can express Loxosceles sphingomyelinases D, and methods for the expression thereof. AA Porcentaje de identidad de aminoacidos entre necrotoxinas de diferentes especies de Loxosceles. especie BB Lb1 Lr1 Lr2 La Li Ll-H17 Ll-H13 Ll-1 Ll-2 Lb1 — Lr1 91 — Lr2 84 90 — La 86 88 87 — Li 82 84 88 80 — Ll-H17 57 60 60 59 59 — Ll-H13 57 60 61 58 60 80 — Ll-1 56 59 59 58 59 99 80 — Ll-2 57 60 61 59 59 82 94 82 — AA . . . AMINO ACID PERCENTAGE OF IDENTITY BETWEEN NECROTOXINS OF DIFFERENT LOXOSCELES SPECIES BB . . . SPECIES

CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED PATENT APPLICATIONS

This patent application is the National Stage of International Application No. PCT/MX2005/000071 filed Aug. 29, 2005, that claims the benefit of Mexican Application No. PA/A/2004/008435 filed Aug. 31, 2004, the entire disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

This invention refers to the recombinant proteins that comprise the sequence of sphingomyelinase D, the main component of the venom of the violin spider (Loxosceles boneti; Loxosceles reclusa, and Loxosceles laeta [Peruvian variety]). When they are injected into mammals, the proteins generate an effective immune response to neutralize the toxic action of the whole venom of those arachnids. It also refers to the use of these proteins as immunogens for the production in vertebrates of antibodies against the whole venoms of said arachnids. It also refers to the composition of said antibodies or the antigen-binding fragments thereof and their use for the treatment of violin spider bite poisoning, and to an antigenic matrix capable of specifically binding neutralizing antibodies of the arachnid's venom, useful for the purification by immunoaffinity of such sero-therapic and fab-therapic agents. Additionally, it refers to a diagnostic device that incorporates said matrix to determine the species of the spider causing the poisoning, and to the method for performing said diagnosis. In another scope of the invention, the DNA fragments that codify the respective recombinant proteins and the expression constructions for said fragments, as well as the bacterial cells transformed with said constructions and the method for producing the proteins using recombinant means are also included.

BACKGROUND

Spiders pertaining to the Loxosceles genus are commonly known as violin spiders because they have a violin-shaped mark with the neck pointing backwards in the anterosuperior part of the cephalothorax (Platnick, 2000).

Spiders of this genus are found all over the world, generally in tropical and temperate climate regions (Ramos, 2000). In Mexico, there are about 39 species of this genus (Hoffman, 1976; Gerstch, 1983). In their natural habitat, they can be found under the bark of trees, under rocks and in caves. They can be found in coexistence with human beings: under furniture, in the corners of rooms, in cracks, grooves of livestock facilities, wood, bricks, and abandoned waste. One of the main causes for Loxosceles bite accidents is, precisely, the constant coexistence with man.

Poisoning caused by the bite of spiders of the Loxosceles genus is called LOXOSCELISM. The violin spider bite commonly produces local necrotic lesions or dermonecrosis (necrotic Loxoscelism), while in some cases it can cause non-necrotizing systemic effects (systemic Loxoscelism).

The extent of local necrosis is related to the spider's stage in of development, the dose of venom injected in the bite and the immune state of the patient (Moye de Alba, 1997; Maguire, 1998).

Dermonecrosis is preceded by edema, the accumulation of inflammatory cells and vasodilatation, all of which culminates in a black vesicle commonly called “bull's eye” lesion. Sometimes the Loxosceles genus may also produce intravascular hemolysis associated with spherocytosis, a condition that persists for several days (Maguire, 1988; Rosse, 1998).

In Mexico, 15 cases of violin spider bite poisoning were treated in the Social Security Institute (personal information, Dr. María del Carmen Sánchez, “La Raza” Hospital, Mexico City) during the past 5 years, 11 in adults and 4 in children. In 53.3% of the cases, in addition to the necrotic loxoscelism, there was systemic loxoscelism, and 62% of the cases where both occurred, the patients died.

Biochemistry of the Venom

Until now, few spider venoms have been studied in detail. The Loxosceles venom is composed of at least ten to twelve components (Russell, 1987), among them: sterases, alkaline phosphatase, hyalouronidase, phosphohydrolases, lypases and proteases, among others. It has so far been proven that the main component, and the one that causes dermonecrosis, is sphingomyelinase D (SMD). This enzyme binds to the cell membranes (epithelial, endothelial of the vascular tissue and red blood cells) hydrolyzing sphingolipids to subsequently release phosphoceramide and choline (Gatt, 1978). The hydrolysis induces the chemotaxis of neutrophils causing vascular thrombosis and an Arthus-type reaction (Moye de Alba, 1997; Maguire, 1998; Sánchez, 1993).

Hyaluronidases, other enzymes involved in poisoning, are common in the poisons of almost all spiders (Tan and Ponnundarai, 1992). They have been detected in a considerable number of species (Geren, 1984) including Loxosceles sp., although in these last species, very low enzymatic activity has been reported (Wright, 1973). Hyaluronidases are considered venom-dispersion factors, because the hydrolysis of the hyaluronic acid facilitates the diffusion of the other toxic components within the victim's tissues (Cevallos et al., 1992). Hyaluronidases act as a dispersing agent and it is thought that proteases might be directly involved in dermonecrosis through the digestion of the proteins that form the extracellular matrix (Young, 2001).

Recent studies have identified two proteases, Loxolysine A and Loxolysine B, in L. intermedia. Loxolysine A is a 20-28 kDa metalloprotease with fibrogenolytic activity (degrading fibrinogen) and fibronectinolytic activity (degrading fibronectin). This protein might be involved in the local hemorrhagic effects observed at the site of the bite and in some cases in the systemic hemorrhages, while Loxolysine B is a 32-35 kDa protease with gelatinolytic activity, and although its function is as yet unknown, it may possibly participate in the degradation of collagen within the extracellular matrix (Feitosa et al., 1998).

Three isoforms (P1, P2, and P3) of the necrotoxic fraction have been found in L. intermedia; they were extremely similar to each other at the biochemical and immunological level. The first two are necrotoxic, P2 with a greater effect, while P3 was completely inactive. The analysis of the amino acidic sequences of the first 35 amino acids of the extreme amino terminus of the isoforms revealed that they were identical in many ways. They were also compared with the partial sequences of the toxins of other previously reported Loxosceles species, obtaining a high degree of similarity (Tambourgi, 1998).

In 1968 Smith and Micks demonstrated that the injection of L. reclusa, L. laeta or L. rufuscens venom into rabbits produced similar necrotic reactions. Recent studies compared the amino terminus sequences of sphingomyelinase of L. reclusa, L. deserta, L. gaucho, L. intermedia and L. laeta venom determining that they were homologous among them (Barbara et al., 1996B).

To date, the complete sequences of the sphingomyelinase D of only 2 of the Loxosceles species have been reported—L. laeta (Fernandes Pedrosa et al., 2002) and L. intermedia (Kalapothakis et al., 2002); they show an identity of barely 59% between them. Only the first 34 AAs of the sphingomyelinase of L. reclusa are known and they happen to have an 85.7% similarity with the equivalent sequence of L. intermedia and 60% with that of L. laeta; for this reason it is impossible to establish a probable sequence for the almost 244 AAs of the enzyme that are still unknown. Similarly, only 35 AAs of the amino terminus region of the sphingomyelinase D of L. deserta and 39 of that of L. gaucho are known (for L. deserta only the sequence derived from the gene is known).

Work on the generation of antibodies against particular species of Loxosceles and cross tests of the same with venoms of spiders of other species of this genus have been reported. For example, a set of monoclonal antibodies against the dermonecrotic component (of 35 Kda) of the venom of L. gaucho was developed, which, while being effective in recognizing and neutralizing the homologous venom, was far less able to recognize the venoms of L. laeta and L. intermedia. Its neutralizing capacity was almostnil, compared with the polyclonal antibodies generated against the same component of L. gaucho which adequately recognized and neutralized the venom of L. intermedia, and partially (60%) recognized that of L. laeta, suggesting the presence of different epitopes in the dermonecrotic components of these species, as well as differences in the composition and toxicity of these venoms (Guilherme et al., 2001). Moreover there is evidence of a marked cross-reactivity between the venoms of L. reclusa and L. deserta when the venom of either of the two species is used to generate antibodies (Gomez et al., 2001).

In general terms, there are two approaches for the treatment/prevention of poisoning by poisonous animals such as the violin spider: passive immunization (by means of sero-therapic and fab-therapic agents) and active immunization (through vaccines); the former is a therapeutic measure, while the latter is rather a preventative measure.

Both venoms and isolated toxins have been used to generate vaccines. However, exposure to most venoms does not result in protective immunity. Furthermore, all attempts to create protective immunity against venoms, such as vaccines, have failed (Russell, 1971). In contrast, success has been obtained creating this type of immunity against individual toxins, including vaccines against diphtheria (Audibert et al., 1982), tetanus (Alouf, 1985), the toxoid of α-Latrotoxin (Alagón et al., 1998) and sphingomyelinase D of L. laeta (Araujo et al., 2003).

Passive Immunization

Aside from the palliative treatment of some of the specific symptom, the only treatment available for poisoning is passive immunization.

In the case of passive immunization, the antibodies or their fragments that will bind to the venom (antigen) are exogenous; i.e., they are produced in a first animal. The serum or antivenom from the first animal is then administered to the individual already affected by poisoning (host) to provide him with an immediate and active source of specific and reactive antibodies. The administered antibodies or their fragments will work then, in some sense, as if they were endogenous antibodies, binding the toxins of the venom and neutralizing their toxicity.

Depending on their final use, commercial generation of antivenoms can be undertaken, in various mammals such as mice, rabbits, goats, cows and horses, the horse being the animal of choice of most laboratories since it is sturdy and tolerates the immunization process and especially because it produces high outputs (up to 16 L per bleeding).

However, there are some technical disadvantages to using horses for the production of antivenoms, among them, the need for large amounts of venom (immunogen or antigen) for performing immunization, forcing the laboratories to have large arachnariums or to contract out the work of gathering large collections of specimens in order to have sufficient quantities of venom available. For example, it is estimated that the production, evaluation and quality control of a lot of antivenom in horses requires highly standardized venom from five thousand spiders, which limits its commercial feasibility. Therefore, having recombinant immunogens capable of triggering an immune response comparable to that triggered by the administered venoms may be a significant alternative for the production of antivenoms, since stable and consistent immunogens would be produced in sufficient quantities at significantly lower costs and with fewer risks than those incurred by keeping arachanariums or the impact of massive collections on ecosystems.

In particular, there are two reports about the use of recombinant proteins as immunogens for the generation of antibodies against spider venoms in mammals, namely, the toxoid of α-Latrotoxin (Alagón et al., 1998) and a fusion protein that comprises the sequence of sphingomyelinase D of Loxosceles intermedia (Araujo et al., 2003).

In Mexico and Latin America, one of the main producers of antivenoms against the venoms of snakes and spiders (scorpions and black widow spiders) is the Instituto Bioclón, S.A. de C.V., which produces antibodies in horses and later purifies and hydrolyzes them in such a way that their antivenoms are in fact F(ab′)₂ fragments of the antibodies, i.e., they are fabotherapics. Specifically, they produce antivenom against the venom of the black widow spider, Aracmyn®.

Due to the variety of common and serious side effects of non-purified antivenoms, the physician must be extremely careful to avoid giving excessive amounts of equine products. A generally accepted theory is that the high incidence of side effects from the current horse antivenoms is caused by the excess of irrelevant protein they contain (irrelevant in the sense of not having a specific activity against the venom). According to this theory, the removal of that irrelevant protein could reduce the exogenous protein charge applied to the body and as a consequence, reduce the incidence of adverse immune responses.

Some researchers in the state-of-the-technique have considered the possibility of purification by immunoaffinity. Most of those studies have only tested antibodies against a single toxin; for example, Yang (1977) proved the purification by immunoaffinity of antibodies against a snake venom toxin. This researcher used cobratoxin, a neurotoxic protein isolated from the venom of the Taiwan cobra (Naja naja atra), bound to Sepharose, as an antigenic matrix and used formic acid to elute the toxin-specific antibodies. The antibodies thus purified were reported to have greater ability to neutralize the toxin than the non-purified serum.

Other researchers have been following similar purification schemes, such as Kukongviriyapan et al. (1982), who used the toxin 3 of Naja naja siamensis bound to several materials to form antigenic matrixes, obtaining a separation of horse-specific antibodies; Ayeb and Delori (1984), who also followed Yang's scheme to purify antibodies against scorpion-specific toxins; and Lomonte et al. (1985), who purified antibodies against the myotoxin of B. asper coupled to Sepharose.

Thus again, having recombinant sphingomyelinases that can specifically bind, preferably bound to an inert matrix, only those antibodies or their fragments that have a high specificity towards the necrotoxic component of the violin spider venom, may be of great help for removing the irrelevant protein for the treatment of poisoning, significantly reducing the risk of adverse immune reactions.

After an incident with Loxosceles, it is not uncommon for the treating physician, or even the affected patients or his/her parents in the case of children to, wrongly assume that it is the bite of an insect or of another type of spider, therefore applying insufficient or wrong treatment to the patient. By the time the unequivocal symptoms of loxoscelism start to appear, the necrosis of the tissue surrounding the wound may be quite advanced and can only be corrected using a skin graft. In this sense, it would be convenient to have an easily readable diagnostic system that allows the treating physician to determine during the first hours after the incident whetherit is indeed a violin spider bite and to immediately start an effective treatment that prevents the development of necrosis.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

FIG. 1. Chromatogram of gel filtration of molecular exclusion (Sephadex G-75) of gland extract of L. boneti. The roman numerals correspond to the different fractions obtained. The red line corresponds to absorbance at 260 nm and the blue one at 280 nm.

FIG. 2. Analysis through SDS-PAGE of the fractions obtained by gel chromatography. 1) Molecular weight markers. 2) Fraction I (2.24 μg). 3) Fraction II (3.84 μg). 4) Fraction III (1.44 μg). 5) Fraction IV (8 μg). 6) Lysate of L. boneti glands (28 μg).

FIG. 3. Results of Cationic Exchange Chromatography for fraction II of L. boneti. Each peak represents an isoform. The arrows show other possible isoforms found in lesser amounts within fraction II. The column was of the Mono S type. The column was 5 cm long by 0.5 cm in diameter. The flow rate was 1 mL/min. Sensitivity was of 0.2 AU. The buffer used was 20 mM ammonium acetate pH 4.7, using a gradient of 0-2 M NaCl. The plotting rate was of 15 cm/hr.

FIG. 4. Alignment of sequences of the 5 proteins with SMD activities, which comprised the recombinant proteins of this invention, with others reported in the literature is shown.

Access number in the Gene Bank: species *Lb1. AY559844 L. boneti *Lr1. AY559846 L. reclusa *Lr2. AY559847 L. reclusa *Ll1. — L. laeta *Ll2. — L. laeta La. AAP44735 L. arizonica Li. AAQ16123 L. laeta Ll.H17. AAM21154 L. laeta LlH13. AAM21155 L. laeta *This patent

FIG. 5. The percentages of amino acid identity among the sphingomyelinases D of several species of Loxosceles are shown.

Access number in the Gene Bank: species *Lb1. AY559844 L. boneti *Lr1. AY559846 L. reclusa *Lr2. AY559847 L. reclusa *Ll1. — L. laeta *Ll2. — L. laeta La. AAP44735 L. arizonica Li. AAQ16123 L. laeta Ll.H17. AAM21154 L. laeta LlH13. AAM21155 L. laeta *This patent

DETAILED DESCRIPTION Definitions

The term “antibody” is used to refer to polyclonal antibodies and their fragments.

The term “fragment”, when referring to antibodies, comprises a portion of the whole antibody, generally the fragment of antigen binding, e.g. fragments Fab, Fab′, F(ab′)₂, and Fv.

The terms “neutralize” or “neutralizing” or “neutralizing antibodies” refer to the ability of the antibodies of this invention to bind to the sphingomyelinase D of spiders of the Loxosceles genus, whether isolated or as part of the whole venom of those spiders, and to cancel its toxic effect and that of the said venom.

The term “treatment” refers to therapeutic treatment. Those that need treatment include those individuals bitten by one or more spiders of the Loxosceles genus.

The term “toxoid” refers to a mutant version of the recombinant proteins (recombinant SMD) object of this invention that lack enzymatic and dermonecrotic activity, but that retain the property of generating antibodies that neutralize the venom of the Loxosceles spider when used to immunize vertebrates, and in particular, mammals.

The term “pharmaceutically acceptable carrier” refers to a solid or liquid excipient, diluent or substance that can be used safely for systemic or topic administration. Depending on the particular route of administration, a variety of pharmaceutically acceptable carriers well-known in the state of the art includes solid or liquid excipients, diluents, hydrotopes, surface active agents, and encapsulating substances. The amount of carrier used in conjunction with the antibodies or their F(ab′)₂ fragments provides a practical manageable amount of material by unitary doses of the composition.

Acceptable carriers for systemic administration that can be incorporated into the composition of this invention include sugar, starches, cellulose, vegetable oils, buffers, polyoles, and alginic acid. The specific pharmaceutically acceptable carriers are described in the following documents, which are hereto incorporated by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 4,401,663 Buckwalter et al., issued Aug. 30, 1983; European patent application No. 089710, LaHann et al., published Sep. 28, 1983; and European patent application No. 0068592, Buckwalter et al., published Jan. 5, 1983. The preferred carriers for parenteral administration include propylene glycol, pyrrolidol, ethyl oleate, aqueous ethanol and combinations thereof.

Representative carriers include acacia, agar, alginates, hydroxyalkylcellulose, hydroxypropyl-methyl-cellulose, carboxymethylcellulose, carrageenin, powdered cellulose, guar gum, cholesterol, gelatin, agar gum, gum Arabic, gum karaya, ghatti gum, carob gum, octoxinot 9, allylic alcohol, pectin, polyacrylic acid and its homologues, polyethylenglycol, polyvinylic alcohol, polyacrylamide, sodium lauryl sulphate, polyethylene oxide, polyvinylpirrolidone, glycol monostearate, propylenglycol monostearate, xanthan gum, tragacantum, sorbitan esters, estearylic alcohol, starch and its modifications. The appropriate ranges vary from around 0.5% to around 1%.

As can be seen from the aforementioned, unlike the problem of poisoning by the black widow spider (Latrodectus mactans), for which there are already some treatments using antivenoms, (F(ab′)₂ fragments of horse polyclonal antibodies), for loxoscelism, there is still no commercial treatment. The generation of antivenoms by immunization with the venom of the spider could be an alternative; however, it has the disadvantage of requiring a large number of spiders (about 5,000 per batch) to extract enough amounts of the venom. Also, its use implies that the serum produced by the animal contains large amounts of antibodies against the varied proteins of the venom, most of them have either minimal or no effect on the poisoning process in mammals, and therefore the antibodies against those proteins have little value for treating the poisoning and instead, they contribute large amounts of proteins that are exogenous to the organism being treated, potentially causing severe side effects. In general, some approaches that have been followed to reduce that amount of protein have been separating the immunoglobulin fraction of the serum, eliminating other serum proteins (such as albumin) by precipitation with ammonium or sodium sulphate, with the corresponding decrease of the neutralizing activity, and hydrolyzing that fraction with tripsin or pepsin to release the F(ab) fragments or F(ab)₂, that preserve the neutralizing activity. However, the antibody fraction or their fragments continue to have a high proportion of irrelevant protein (because they are antibody fragments against all the components of the whole venom and against multiple undefined antigens).

This problem could be resolved through immunoaffinity purification if there were an immunogen matrix that allowed for the specific separation of the source from the immunoglobulins or from the fragments produced by their hydrolysis, those specific antibodies or fragments, responsible for neutralizing the toxic effect of the whole venom.

On the other hand, as mentioned before, there is a need for a reliable diagnostic system that allows the attending physician to determine quickly and easily whether he is dealing with a Loxosceles bite, and then to be able to immediately administer an appropriate treatment that prevents the necrosis of the tissue surrounding the area of the bite.

In order to solve these problems, the inventors of this invention have undertaken to characterize the venom of L. boneti, isolating and purifying its dermonecrotic component and to isolate and characterize its codifying DNA, as well as the codifying DNA of the dermonecrotic component of L. reclusa and L. laeta (Peruvian variety), to clone the codifying sequences into appropriate expression vectors, to express the active recombinant proteins, and test them regarding their ability to generate an effective immune response for the neutralization of the necrotoxin and the whole homologue venom, as well as in cross-reaction tests of the venom of these species of Loxosceles.

The active recombinant proteins of L. boneti (SMDrLb), L. reclusa (SMDrLr), and L. laeta (Peruvian variety) (SMDrLI) may be used as immunogens to generate antivenoms in vertebrates; bound to solid or semisolid substrates to generate antigenic matrixes useful for immunopurification of antivenoms; and in the design and construction of diagnostic systems to determine if a patient suffers from loxoscelism.

As shown in Example 1, the inventors of this invention separated the whole venom of L. boneti into fractions, finding that only fraction II shows dermonecrotic activity. They were able to separate 3 isoforms of the dermonecrotic component. They found that only isoforms I and II are active, the former being the more active one, and they obtained an amino acidic sequence of the amino terminus of the three isoforms, which were used to design the specific oligos for obtaining the clones of the necrotoxic components from the RNAm extracted from the venom glands of the spiders (see Example 3), clone 30-8 being the one selected for its expression. For this purpose, clone 30-8 was subcloned in the pTrcHIS-TOPO plasmid, obtaining pTrcHIS-TOPO 30-8 plasmid (see details in Example 4) and expressed in E. coli XL1 Blue, obtaining its expression in the form of inclusion bodies that were solubilized and refolded. The solubilized and refolded recombinant protein lacked sphingomyelinase D (SMD) and dermonecrotic activity and the antibodies generated in rabbits against it; although capable of recognizing the protein through Western Blot, they were not able to neutralize the whole venom of the L. boneti spider.

After an analysis, the following factors were taken into consideration in an effort to express the recombinant protein in a soluble and active form: (i) the sequence of the fragment used lacked the first 4 codons, hence the amino acidic sequence of the recombinant protein lacked the first 4 amino acids of the extreme amino terminus; (ii) just before the BamH I cut site, vector pTrcHIS-TOPO has the 36 AA sequence, including the initial methyonine and a tail of 6 histidines useful for the recovery of the protein which, plus the 2 codons occupied by the BamH I site, add a total of 38 amino acids to the recombinant protein, which amino acids could be responsible for its poor plication, and (iii) it is known (see pET System Manual) that certain strains of E. coli may favor the adequate plication of some the recombinant proteins they express. Additionally, the successful expression of the recombinant protein comprising the amino acidic sequence of one of the isoforms of sphingomyelinase D of L. laeta in E. coli BL21 had been reported (Fernandes Pedroza et al., 2002).

Therefore it was decided to complete the codifying sequence (the 4 missing amino acids) as shown in Example 5; changing to the pQE-30 expression vector that only adds 12 amino acids to the recombinant protein at its extreme amino terminus, and expressing it in the BL21 strain of E. coli (see Example 6). Again, an expression in the form of inclusion bodies was obtained which, although considerable, had negligible enzymatic activity.

It is known that if the expression is too high, all the protein accumulates in the form of inclusion bodies, thus it may be advisable to try to reduce the protein expression. Whit this finality, a controlled expression of the protein was performed, as detailed in Example 7, this time managing to express the protein both as inclusion bodies and soluble. Once the protein was purified was proved to have the same specific activity as have the native isoform I, and with an LD50 of 2.55 μg per mouse.

The soluble recombinant sphingomyelinase D of L. boneti (SMDrLb) thus produced was used to inoculate rabbits (see Example 8) obtaining titles of up to 29,300. The resulting antibodies were neutralizing for both the active recombinant protein (ED50=154.6 μL/mouse for 7.8 μg of the antigen), and the native venom of L. boneti (ED50=149.6 μL/mouse with 3 LD50 of the native venom).

Based on the experiment followed to obtain the sphingomyelinase D (the dermonecrotic component) of L. boneti, we proceeded to obtain the sphingomyelinase D of L. reclusa and L. laeta (Peruvian variety). In the first case, the amino acidic sequence of the first 34 amino acids of the amino terminus of the sphingomyelinase D of L. reclusa is known from the literature (Barbaro, K. C. et al., 1996), and upon exact coincidence of the first 5 amino acids with those corresponding to L. boneti, we decided to use the same oligos to obtain the cDNA of the dermonecrotic component from the RNAm extracted from the glands of the spider (see Example 9). In this case, the cDNAs of two active isoforms of the SMD of L. reclusa were obtained, SMDrLr1 and SMDrLr2 (with 90% of similarity between them) with an activity of 27.2 U/mg for SMDrLr1 and 11.47 U/mg for SMDrLr2. As was the case with L. boneti, the inventors subcloned the clones in the pQE-30 plasmid, and they were expressed in a controlled way in the BL21 strain of E. coli (see Example 10). To exemplify their use as immunogens for generating neutralizing antibodies from the venom of L. reclusa spiders, one of the soluble and active recombinant sphingomyelinases D of L. reclusa thus produced, SMDrLr1, was used to inoculate rabbits (see Example 11), resulting in titres of up to 33,000. The resulting antibodies were neutralizing for both the active recombinant protein (ED50=165 μL/mouse for 12 μg of the recombinant protein), and the native venom of the L. reclusa spider (ED50=175 μL/mouse with 12 μg of the venom).

In the second case, the complete amino acidic sequence of some of the active isoforms of sphingomyelinase D of L. laeta (Brazilian variety) is known from the literature (Fernandes Pedrosa et al., 2002). Based on them, the Ll5′Bam HI and Ll3′Sal I oligos were designed to obtain the cDNA of the dermonecrotic component from the RNAm extracted from the glands of the spider (see Example 12). In this case, the inventors succeeded in isolating the cDNA of 2 distinct and active isoforms: the former, SMDrLl1, with an activity of 58.43 U/mg, and the latter, SMDrLl2, with an activity of 252 U/mg. As was the case with L. boneti and L. reclusa, the inventors subcloned the clones in the pQE-30 plasmid, and they were expressed in a controlled way in the BL21 strain of E. coli (see Example 13). When the codifying DNA fragments were sequenced, one of the codified proteins, SMDrLl1, showed a primary sequence slightly different (99% of similarity) from that reported by Fernandes Pedrosa et al. for isoform H17 (which is the isoform he reports as active), while SMDrLl2, which in this invention proves to have almost 3 times the activity of SMDrLl1, showed a sequence 94% identical to isoform H13 that is reported by Fernandes Pedrosa et al. as inactive. To exemplify their use as immunogens for generating neutralizing antibodies from the venom of the L. reclusa spider, one of the soluble and active recombinant sphingomyelinase D of L. laeta (Peruvian variety) thus produced, SMDrLl1, was used to inoculate rabbits (see Example 14), obtaining neutralizing antibodies both from the active recombinant protein (DE50=200 μL per mouse for 12 μg of protein) and from the native venom of the L. laeta spider (Peruvian variety) (DE50=225 μL per mouse of venom).

The recombinant proteins of this invention, SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1, and SMDrLl2, were expressed using the pQE30 plasmid, which adds a sequence of 12 amino acids—MRGSHHHHHHGS (SEQ. ID. NO: 25) that include a tail of 6 histidines—to the amino region (amino versions) of the protein. However, they can be expressed in other expression systems that introduce other amino acid sequences to either the amino terminus or the carboxyl of the proteins. One example is pQE60 plasmid (INVITROGEN), which includes only the Methionine, Glycin and Serine amino acids in the amino region while in the carboxyl terminus it includes an 8-amino acid sequence RSHHHHHH (SEQ. ID. NO: 26). In Example 16, the Lb1, Lr1, Lr2, and Ll2 clones were subclonated in the pQE60 plasmid and were expressed in a controlled way to obtain the carboxyl versions of the proteins (with the Histidine tail in that terminus). The recombinant proteins obtained, which like the corresponding amino versions comprise the sequences SEQ.ID.NO:11, SEQ.ID.NO:13, SEQ.ID.NO:15, and SEQ.ID.NO:21, were active.

One scope of this invention, then, refers to the SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1, and SMDrLl2 recombinant proteins, either their amino versions (with the Histidine tail at the amino terminus) or their carboxyl versions (with the Histidine tail at the carboxyl terminus), that comprise the native sphingomyelinase D sequences of L. boneti, L. reclusa and L. laeta spiders, SEQ. ID. No: 11, SEQ. ID. No: 13, SEQ. ID. No: 15, SEQ. ID. No: 19, and SEQ. ID. No: 21 respectively or variants or mutants of those sequences, and that show sphingomyelinase D activity.

Another scope of this invention refers to the DNA fragments that comprise the codifying sequences of the recombinant proteins SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1, and SMDrLl2, with the SEQ. ID. No: 10, SEQ. ID. No: 12, SEQ. ID. No: 14, SEQ. ID. No: 18, and SEQ.ID.No: 20, respectively; its obtaining is detailed in Examples 5, 9, and 12.

It is known that the genetic code is degenerated, i.e., for one amino acid there is usually more than one codifying codon; generally, the difference among these codons is at the third base position. It is obvious to an expert in the state of the technique that it is possible to perform substitutions of some bases in any of the codifying nucleotidic sequences of the recombinant proteins of this invention (SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1 and SMDrLl2), that codify exactly the same amino acidic sequences as those present in SEQ ID NO: 11, SEQ ID NO: 13, SEQ ID NO: 15, SEQ ID NO: 19, and SEQ ID NO: 21, generating “silent mutations” of those sequences. This can be especially useful when one wants to express the recombinant proteins of this invention in various recombinant hosts, since it is known that different kinds of hosts have a “preference” of use towards certain codons for particular amino acids. Such “silent mutations” fall within the scope of this invention since the products of their expression are once again the same recombinant proteins SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1 and SMDrLl2 of this invention.

Moreover, it is also obvious for an expert in the state of the technique that it is possible to substitute some amino acids outside the active site of the protein for others of the amino acidic sequences with similar characteristics; e.g., one polar amino acid for another polar amino acid, an aromatic one for another aromatic one, a charged one for another, etc. It is not expected that such mutations produce significant changes in the activity of recombinant proteins, hence those point- or site-specific mutations for the codifying DNA fragments of the recombinant proteins of this invention that produce functionally equivalent proteins (i.e., those that have sphingomyelinase D activity and that cause dermonecrosis in a mammal inoculated with them) are included within the scope of this invention.

An additional scope of this invention refers to mutants of the recombinant proteins object of this invention and their codifying DNAs, which constitute toxoids of those proteins, i.e., they lack enzymatic activity as sphingomyelinase D and the dermonecrotic effect, but they retain the property of being expressed in a soluble form with the methods described above and of generating antibodies, that neutralize the venom of Loxosceles spiders by inoculating vertebrates—especially mammals.

Particularly based on the description of the active center of one of the isoforms of sphingomyelinase D of L. laeta (Murakami et al., 2005), where it is made evident that the binding to the substrate and the transition state of the enzyme are stabilized by the Mg²⁺ ion, which forms a coordination binding with the Glu32, Asp34, and Asp91 amino acids and molecules of the solvent.} The amino acids His12 and His47 play a key role in the acid-base catalytic mechanism proposed by the authors (all of the amino acids are counted from the extreme amino terminus of the mature protein). Therefore, those 5 amino acids prove to be especially attractive blanks for performing a directed mutagenesis method to try to obtain mutants that are toxoids of the sphingomyelinases D of Loxosceles spiders. In L. boneti and L. reclusa, the equivalent of these amino acids are Glu31, Asp33 and Asp91, and the His 11 and His47 histidines. Special attention was given to the idea that effecting the mutations on Glu32 (or Glu31 for L. boneti or L. reclusa) would be highly attractive for performing the substitution of an amino acid that breaks the coordination bond with the Mg²⁺ ion, and on His12 (or His11 for L. boneti or L. reclusa) it would be highly attractive for performing the substitution of an amino acid that, without interfering with the dimerization of sphingomyelinase D, makes it lose its enzymatic activity.

To prove this, by way of illustration but without limitation, as shown in Example 18, a toxoid for the recombinant protein SMDrLb was built, substituting Histidine 11 with Lysine and generating the SEQ.ID.No: 27 that codifies for the amino acidic sequence SEQ.ID.No:28. Simultaneously, a toxoid for the same SMDrLb recombinant protein with the Glu31 substituted by Lysine was built, generating the SEQ.ID.No:29 that codifies for the amino acidic sequence SEQ.ID.No:30. These mutations cause the proteins (SMDrLb(H11K) and SMDrLb(E31K), respectively) expressed by the above-mentioned methods to lack enzymatic activity as sphingomyelinase D and the dermonecrotic effect, but to retain the property of being expressed in a soluble form with the methods described above and of generating, by inoculation of vertebrates—particularly mammals—, antibodies that neutralize the venom of the Loxosceles spider (at least that of L. boneti).

Another scope of this invention refers to the expression vectors in which are cloned the DNA fragments that comprise any of the following sequences: SEQ. ID. NO: 10, SEQ. ID. NO: 12, SEQ. ID. NO: 14, SEQ. ID. NO: 18, SEQ. ID. NO: 20, SEQ. ID. NO: 27, and SEQ. ID. NO: 29. There is a great variety of expression vectors so when selecting them, it is important to consider that the number of amino acids added to the recombinant proteins not to be so high as to drastically reduce the solubility and/or activity of the expression product. Some examples of expression vectors are pQ30 and pQ60 by Qiagen. Obviously another element to consider during selection is the bacterial strain to be used.

Another scope of this invention refers to the recombinant bacterial strain to be used in the expression of the recombinant proteins object of this invention. Escherichia coli is the best known bacterial species and is widely used for the expression of recombinant proteins, hence the recombinant bacterial strain of this invention is preferably from this species. As has been previously mentioned, some strains favor the plication of the recombinant proteins that they express. An example of this kind of strain is Escherichia coli BL21. Thus the recombinant bacterial strain of this invention is preferably E. coli BL21.

Another scope of this invention refers to the recombinant methods to produce the SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1, SMDrLl2 proteins or their toxoids through the use of DNA fragments with the sequences SEQ. ID. No: 10, SEQ. ID. No: 12, SEQ. ID. No: 14, SEQ. ID. No: 18, SEQ. ID.No: 20, SEQ. ID. NO: SEQ. ID. NO: 27, and SEQ. ID. NO: 29, respectively. This is illustrated in Examples 7, 10, and 13. Thus a general method for the production of the recombinant proteins object of this invention is comprised of the following steps:

(a) incubating in an adequate medium and in adequate culture conditions a transformed recombinant bacterial strain with an expression vector that comprises a DNA fragment selected from the group that consists of DNA fragments with the SEQ. ID. NO: 10, SEQ. ID. NO: 12, SEQ. ID. NO: 14, SEQ. ID. NO: 18, SEQ. ID. NO: 20, SEQ. ID. NO: 27, and SEQ. ID. NO: 29 sequences.

(b) optionally, separating the cellular mass from the medium;

(c) breaking the cells to release the protein, and

(d) optionally, separating and purifying the recombinant protein.

The selection of the vector-host expression system may be varied. In this invention, by way of illustration but without limitation, the BL21 strain of E. coli was selected to be used in the production methods of the recombinant proteins of this invention; a controlled expression of them was made by means of an IPTG 0.1 mM induction, so that preferably, when an adequate cellular mass is reached using the method for producing the recombinant proteins object of this invention, the expression is induced with the concentration of IPTG of 0.1 mM at a temperature of between 20 and 25° C. for at least 12 to 20 hours.

Another scope of this invention refers to the use of the recombinant proteins SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1, SMDrLl2, SMDrLb(H11K) and SMDrLb(E31K) as immunogens to generate neutralizing antibodies of the whole venom of Loxosceles genus spiders in vertebrates with the purpose of industrially producing antivenoms against the venom of those spiders. This is clearly illustrated in Examples 8, 11, and 14 with rabbits, and in Example 17 with horses; although the production of antibodies in fowl, such as hens, is also known. For that purpose an immunogenic composition that includes at least one of the recombinant proteins object of this invention is used. Typically, an immunogenic composition of this type may additionally include a pH buffer system and an adjuvant, such as the complete or incomplete Freund's adjuvant. According to this invention, a method for producing neutralizing antibodies for the venom of the spiders of the Loxosceles genus involves inoculating a vertebrate with an effective amount sufficient to generate antibodies of an immunogenic composition similar to the one described above, that includes at least one of the recombinant proteins of this invention. The vertebrate, preferably a mammal, may be, among others, a rabbit, a sheep, a goat or if possible, a horse, as illustrated in Example 17. Preferably, that method includes recovering the antibodies from the animal, typically from blood serum or plasma. Preferably, those antibodies are neutralizers of the in vivo toxic effect of the whole venom of the Loxosceles spider, preferably from species selected from the group that comprises L. boneti, L. reclusa and L. laeta.

An additional scope of this invention refers to the compositions that comprise the antibodies, or their antigen-binding fragments, that neutralize the in vivo effect of the venom of the Loxosceles spider, produced by the method described above. Those compositions comprise antibodies generated against at least one of the recombinant proteins object of this invention. Preferably, the spider belongs to a species selected from the group consisting of L. boneti, L. reclusa or L. laeta.

Since the antibodies generated against the recombinant proteins object of this invention, whether in an isolated form or as a mixture of immunogens, have proven to be neutralizers of the venom of the Loxosceles spider, they may be used as part of a pharmaceutical composition to treat patients who have been bitten by Loxosceles spiders, especially L. boneti, L. reclusa and L. laeta. Optionally, the pharmaceutical composition may include pharmaceutically acceptable carriers like the ones described above.

According to this, another scope of this invention refers to pharmaceutical compositions that comprise the neutralizing antibodies (or their fragments) produced by means of the methods described above, using one or more of the recombinant proteins object of this invention as immunogens, where said composition neutralizes the toxic effect of the venom of the Loxosceles spider and is useful for the treatment of individuals who have been bitten by that Loxosceles spider.

In another scope, this invention refers to a method for treating individuals who need such treatment, particularly individuals that have been bitten by Loxosceles spiders, particularly L. boneti, L. reclusa and L. laeta, where that method consists of the administration of a pharmaceutically effective amount of the pharmaceutical composition described above. The pharmaceutical composition may be locally or systemically administered by intravenous, subcutaneous, intramuscular, vaginal, intraperitoneal, nasal, or oral routes to protect the individuals from the toxic effect of Loxosceles spider venom.

The recombinant proteins object of this invention (SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1, SMDrLl2, SMDrLb(H11K), and SMDrLb(E31K)), may also be used to generate an antigenic matrix when bound, either covalently or by hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions, to a substrate such as polyacrylamide, polyvinyl, activated aldehyde-agarose (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,904,922 and 5,443,976), sepharose, carboxymethyl cellulose or some other, in such a way that matrix is capable of binding specifically to either antibodies (generated against the whole venom of Loxosceles spiders or against those same venoms enriched with some of the recombinant proteins object of this invention, or against a mixture of those recombinant proteins object of this invention) or against the F(ab) or F(ab′)2 fragments obtained from the hydrolysis of such antibodies, being useful for purifying those antibodies or F(ab) or F(ab′)2 fragments by immunoaffinity, so the use of the recombinant proteins object of this invention in the antigenic matrix and said antigenic matrix are included in the scope of this invention. This immunopurification of the antibodies or their fragments during the antivenom manufacturing process will help to decrease the proportion of the irrelevant exogenous protein administered to a patient bitten by a Loxosceles spider. Therefore, another aspect of this invention is a composition that includes at least one of the recombinant proteins object of this invention, bound to a substrate, characterized by the fact that composition is capable of binding specifically to the antibodies generated against the venom of the Loxosceles genus spiders or against that venom enriched with at least one of the recombinant proteins object of this invention.

Another scope of this invention refers to the use of the recombinant proteins object of this invention (SMDrLb, SMDrLr1, SMDrLr2, SMDrLl1, SMDrLl2, SMDrLb(H11K) and SMDrLb(E31K)) indiagnosis. Through the use of any of the recombinant proteins of this invention, it is possible to generate specific monoclonal antibodies against an epitope present only in that recombinant protein or in the corresponding native toxin of the venom of the homologous species of Loxosceles spiders, but absent in the toxin of the venom of the other Loxosceles species. These recombinant proteins may be used as part of an antigenic matrix in which they are bound covalently or by hydrophobic or hydrophilic interactions to a substrate, and that matrix may be used as part of a diagnostic device. By testing a sample of an individual supposedly bitten by a Loxosceles spider, said device will be able to be used to detect the presence, in a sample of antibodies generated, by the body of the individual, specifically against the homologous native toxin of the venom of a specific Loxosceles spider, determining if the spider that bit the individual belonged to that species of Loxosceles. This can be done with each of the recombinant proteins object of this invention, which would help to determine which of the homologous species (L. boneti, L. reclusa or L. laeta, Peruvian variety) the spider that caused the bite belongs to, providing the attending physician with a tool for directing the treatment specifically. A method to diagnose whether the animal that bit the individual belongs to a particular species of Loxosceles spider will include putting the above-mentioned device in contact with a sample of the individual bitten. If they are present, the antibodies generated specifically against the natural toxin of the venom of the spider that bit the individual will recognize and bind to one of the recombinant proteins of the device. An optional detection system may be used to reveal the presence of the antibodies of the sample bound to the recombinant protein of the device. This detection system may be based on immune-enzymatic, immune-fluorescence or immune-chromatographic methods.

Materials and Methods

1. Spiders

The specimens of L. boneti were gathered by people trained to recognize the Loxosceles genus in the communities of La Capilla and Corral de Toros, municipality of Iguala, which are located in the central region of the State of Guerrero, Mexico, according to the distribution determined by Hoffman (1976) and Gerstch (1983). To confirm this, 10 female and 10 male spiders were sent to the Museum of Natural History of New York to Dr. Norman Platnich, who identified them as such. The specimens of L. reclusa were collected in Stillwater, Okla. by the inventors of this invention, while the specimens of L. laeta (Peruvian variety) were collected in Lima, Peru.

2. Obtaining the Venom

The glands of the spiders were mechanically extracted, by pulling the chelicerae to uproot them. They were placed in an ammonium acetate buffer 20 mM pH 4.7 and were macerated with a Teflon homogenizer (50 venom apparatuses per mL); they were centrifuged for two minutes at 14,000 rpm to remove the undesired solid residues and cellular remains; they were stored at −70° C. until their use.

Limited amounts of pure venom (different from the gland extract described) were also obtained. For that purpose, we took advantage of the fact that when manipulated, some spiders secrete small amounts of venom; those were collected in microcapillary tubes.

3. Biochemical Tests

(a) Molecular Exclusion Gel Chromatography

A 170 cm long and 1.4 cm in diameter column was used. The resin selected to pack the column was Sephadex G-75 (SIGMA CHEMICAL CO.) because its exclusion limit is 70 kDa. The run buffer was ammonium acetate 20 mM, pH 4.7. The flow speed in the experiment was of 48 mL h⁻¹ cm⁻².

72.56 mg of venom (3.5 mL) were applied, measured by absorbance at 280 nm. Samples were collected every six minutes with an approximate volume of 4.5 mL; the spectrophotometer (Beckman DU650i) was read at two wavelengths: 260 nm and 280 nm.

(b) Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE).

The proteins were separated from the venoms in polyacrylamide gels at 12.5% in reducing conditions at constant current. The equipment used for this method was the Mini Protean III (BIO-RAD). Different concentrations were used for each sample subjected to electrophoresis.

For the reducing conditions, 2-mercaptoethanol was used at a final concentration of 2.5%. The prestained molecular weight markers (BioLabs, Inc.) were used as molecular weight standards. All the samples, including the molecular weight marker, were previously denaturalized in a water bath for 5 minutes. These were run at a constant current of 15 mA, until the dye penetrated the separating gel; subsequently, the current was increased to 25 mA. Once the gel run was finished, we proceeded to perform staining with Coomassie bright blue for one hour, and it was decolorated with a solution of 10% of acetic acid and 25% of methanol overnight with constant agitation.

(c) Ion-Exchange Chromatography (FPLC)

The column used was of the Mono S HR 5/5 type (Pharmacia LKB Biotech), which is a strong cation exchanger based on hydrophilic resins. The flow used for the runs was 1 mL/min. The buffers used were the following:

Initial buffer: Buffer A—Ammonium acetate 20 mM, pH 4.7.

Buffer limit: Buffer B—Ammonium acetate 20 mM, pH 4.7+2 M sodium chloride.

Both buffers (filtrated through a 0.22 micron membrane) were run to calibrate the column according to the distributor's specifications:

Once the column was balanced, the sample was injected. The sample was previously centrifuged for two minutes at 14,000 rpm, to clarify it (remove residues and/or precipitates).

The sensitivity of the detector was 0.2 AU, the flow rate was 1 mL/min and the gradient was from 0 to 2 M sodium chloride.

4. Activity of Sphingomyelinase D.

The measurement of this enzymatic activity was done with the Amplex Red Sphingomyelinase Assay Kit (Molecular Probes) following the protocol suggested by the manufacturer, using serial dilutions (1:1) starting from 1 μg/ml.

5. Measurement of Titers by ELISA of the Sera and In Vitro Determination of Cross-Reactions

The titration of antibodies from sera was performed by Enzyme-Linked Immuno Assays (ELISA). This assay was also used to observe possible cross-reactions.

The ELISA assay consisted of:

1. Sensitization of 96-well plates for ELISA (Maxi sorp, NUNC™ Brand products) with a an antigen solution at a concentration of 5 μg/mL, reconstituted in 100 mM carbonate/bicarbonate pH 9.5.

100 μL were dispensed in each well up to column 11, since track 12 served as negative control. The plate was incubated overnight at 4° C.

2. Once the incubation was completed, it was washed three times with 200 μL of washing solution. This process had to be repeated each time we advanced to the next step along the complete technique.

3. Afterwards, the unspecific protein binding sites were blocked with 200 μL of blocking solution, for 2 hours at 37° C.

4. Step 2 is repeated.

5. Serial dilutions of the sera with an initial dilution of 1:30 in an ELISA reaction buffer (indicated in the corresponding addendum) were made. 100 μL of the ELISA reaction solution were added to each well, and 50 μL/well of the anti-loxosceles serum dilution were mixed in column 1, to proceed to the 3× serial dilutions up to column 10 leaving columns 11 and 12 as controls. It was incubated for one hour at room temperature.

6. Repeat step 2.

7. Then the second anti-rabbit antibody conjugated with the peroxidase enzyme diluted to 1:1000 in an ELISA reaction solution was incubated, placing 100 μL/well. The incubation time was 1 hour at room temperature.

8. The reaction was revealed with 100 μL/well of ABTS substrate (Boehringer), incubating for 5 minutes at room temperature. After five minutes, the reaction was stopped with 25 μL of fluorhydric acid (Aldrich), and the plate was read in an ELISA plate reader (model BIO-RAD 550) at 405 nm.

To determine the titers of the readings obtained, the sigmoid curves were generated with the GraphPad Prism software (Version 2; GraphPad Software, Inc, San Diego, Calif.). The inflection point was calculated by adjusting the experimental data for each venom and each antivenom by nonlinear regression of the sigmoid curves.

6. Western Blot Tests

This is a technique used to identify which mixture of proteins or their fragments react to a determined antibody or antiserum. Western Blot tests were performed according to the Mathews and Holde protocol (1998).

Polyacrylamide gels 12.5% were prepared and run in the usual way to separate the proteic components of the venoms of L. boneti and L. reclusa. The amount of venom used for each assay was 30 μg per track. Once the gel run was completed, the transference to a nitrocellulose membrane (solid substrate) was performed during one hour at constant current (400 mA).

6. Western Blot Tests

This is a technique used to identify which proteins, or their fragments, within a mixture react to a particular antibody or antiserum. Western Blot tests were performed according to the Mathews and Holde protocol (1998).

12.5% polyacrylamide gels were prepared and run in the usual way to separate the proteic components of the venoms of L. boneti and L. reclusa. The amount of venom used for each assay was 30 μg per track. Once the gel run was completed, the transference to a nitrocellulose membrane (solid substrate) was performed for one hour at constant current (400 mA). For this purpose, a transference chamber under semi-humid conditions was used (OWL) Once the transference to the membrane was completed, it was blocked overnight with constant stirring at room temperature in a 5% solution of skimmed milk/TBST, to prevent the unspecific binding of the antibodies. After this time, the membranes were washed three times with TBST 1× (ten minutes each washing). Afterwards, It was incubated with the first antibody in 0.1% powdered skimmed milk (Carnation or Svelty/TBST) with constant stirring at room temperature for one hour (it was diluted according to the titre of the antibody). The dilutions used in this assay were 1:1000, 1:2500, and 1:5000.

Once the incubation was completed, we performed three ten-minute washes each one with TBST 1×. The second antibody was incubated for one hour at room temperature with constant stirring in 0.1% skimmed milk/TBST. An anti-rabbit coupled to alkaline phosphatase (ZYMED) was used as the second antibody.

After the incubation, it was washed three times with TBST for ten minutes; the TBST from the last wash was eliminated, and NTB-BCIP reaction buffer, which was left to react for five minutes, was added; the reaction was stopped with 5 mM EDTA.

7. Determination of the LD50

To determine the LD50 of SMDrLb and SMDrLr of the native venoms of L. reclusa and L. boneti, groups of 5 Balb/c mice weighing 18-20 g were used. Variable amounts of the toxin were applied intraperitoneally, ranging from 0.6 to 17.57 μg of toxin per animal, and an LD50 of 2.55 μg of SMDrLb and of 6 μg of SMDrLr were found per mouse. The SMDrLb used had a concentration of 331 μg/mL (BCA method) and a sphingomyelinase D activity of 104.77 U/mL; the SMDLr had a concentration of 53.6 μg/mL and a sphingomyelinase D activity of 103.38 U/mL. The calculations were made using the GraphPad Prism software (Version 2; GraphPad Software, Inc, San Diego, Calif.). The venoms used had a concentration of 3,300 μg/mL of protein (BCA) and a sphingomyelinase D activity of 7.5 U/mg for L. boneti, and 5,800 μg/mL (BCA) and 9.05 U/mg for the venom of L. reclusa.

8. Dermonecrosis in Rabbits

The dermonecrotic activity was assessed in rabbits and determined as described by Furlanetto et al. (1962a, b).

Different concentrations of the venom were used; they were diluted in 0.2 mL of PBS buffer, pH 7.4, or in 0.2 mL of ammonium acetate 20 mM, pH 4.7. These were intradermically injected into the backs of two rabbits.

In order to better illustrate this invention and its use, the following specific examples are provided to help the reader better understand the different aspects of the practice of this invention. Since these specific examples are merely illustrative, in no case should the following descriptions be considered to limit the scope of this invention:

EXAMPLE 1 Biochemical Characterization of the Venom of Loxosceles Boneti

To characterize the venom of the Loxosceles boneti spider, which is found in Mexico, particularly in the states of Guerrero, Puebla and Morelos, an extract of the glands of the spider was obtained. The extract was lyophilized and reconstituted in ammonium acetate 20 mM pH 4.7; the formation of precipitate was observed. An SDS-PAGE analysis (reducing conditions) showed that the protein of interest was primarily preserved in the supernatant, with which we continued to work. It was separated by molecular exclusion gel chromatography, and 4 main peaks were observed. (FIG. 1). Correspondingly, the samples were separated into 4 fractions, with fraction II containing the protein of approximately 32 KDa, which would presumably be sphingomyelinase (FIG. 2). This fraction II was characterized by ion-exchange chromatography by FPLC to search for possible isoforms, as in the reported cases of L. reclusa and L. intermedia. Three main peaks corresponding to isoforms I, II and III (FIG. 3) were obtained. Of these, only isoforms I and II showed proven dermonecrotic activity on the skin of rabbits, as described by Furlanetto et al. (1962a, b). The sphingomyelinase activity of fraction II (which comprises the 3 isoforms) was 25 U/mg. Each of the three separated isoforms was dried by centrifugation in SAVANT and then sequenced in an automated Beckman LF3000 apparatus, using Edman's chemistry (Walsh et al., 1981). From isoform I, the first 35 amino acids (SEQ. ID. NO:1) were sequenced; from isoform II, the first 33 (SEQ. ID. NO:2), and from isoform III, the first 22 (SEQ. ID. NO:3). The enzymatic activity for isoform I was 30.5 U/mg; for isoform II, it was 9.5 U/mg, and for isoform III, 0 U/mg.

EXAMPLE 2 Generation of Polyclonal Antibodies in Mammals Against L. Boneti Venom and Cross-Reaction with L. Recluse Venom

To generate antivenom antibodies for L. boneti, 2 rabbits were inoculated in a 13-inoculation plan. In the first 9 inoculations, the gland extract of L. boneti was administered in increasing amounts from 20 to 250 μg, while in the remaining inoculations, 60, 80 and 100 μg of fraction II (mixture of the 3 isoforms), obtained from the molecular exclusion gel chromatography, were administered. Inoculations were performed every 10 days. A volume of 1 mL (in PBS) with incomplete Freund's adjuvant was injected intradermically in all of the cases except for the first, in which complete Freund's adjuvant was injected.

The sera obtained were titrated, obtaining titers of up to 30,000. In cross-reactions with the venom of L. reclusa, the titers were up to 23,000. FIG. 4 shows a Western Blot of the venom of L. reclusa and L. boneti (separated by SDS-PAGE) revealed with the anti-L. boneti serum, where the affinity towards the 32.5 KDa component of both venoms is clearly shown.

EXAMPLE 3 Isolation of Partial Clones of the Necrotoxins of L. Boneti

To isolate the clones of the necrotoxins, the RNAm of the venom glands of spiders of each species was isolated using the TRIZOL method (Gibco), following the protocol of the manufacturer. The kit 3′ RACE (Gibco) was used to synthetize the first chain. 2 μL of the total RNAm (approximately 500 mg) extracted from glands, 4 μL of water, and 1 μL (10 pmoles) of the Adapter Primer (AP) oligonucleotide, which comprises a tail of poly Ts (SEQ.ID. NO:4), were incubated for denaturalization at 7° C. for 10 min and cooled immediately in ice. 2 μL of PCR 10× buffer, 1 μL of dNTPs (10 mM), 2 μL of MgCl2 (25 mM) and 2 μL of DTT (0.1 M) were added, preincubating for 2-4 min at 42° C. 1 μL of Reverse Transcriptase Superscript (Invitrogen) was added immediately; it was mixed and incubated for 50 min at 42° C. The enzyme was inactivated by incubation for 15 min at 70° C., and the mixtures were immediately cooled in ice for 1 minute. 1 μL of RNAsa H was added and incubated for 20 min at 37° C. and stored at −80° C.

For the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a sample of the first chain reaction (2 μL) was taken, and to it were added a buffer of PCR 10× Mg²⁺ (100 mM TRIS-HCl pH8.3, 500 mM KCl 15 mM MgCl₂), 200 μM dNTPs, 20 pmoles of the direct oligonucleotide (at 5′-3′ sense), 20 pmoles of the reverse oligonucleotide (at 3′-5′ sense) AUAP (GIBCO) (SEQ.ID. NO:5) and two units of Taq DNA Polymerase (ROCHE) in a final volume of 50 μL. The reaction was performed using a Perking Elmer 9600 thermocyclator with the following protocol: Incubation of the mixture for 3 min. at 94° C., followed by 25 cycles of three incubation steps: 1 min at 94° C., 90 sec at 48° C. and 2 min at 72° C. The Taq DNA polymerase binds to the 3′ extremes, a useful A to hybridize with the T of the 5′ extremes of the linearized cloning vector pCR 2.1-TOPO (3.9 Kb).

For L. boneti, 2 oligonucleotides were designed based on the amino acidic sequence determined common to isoforms I and II, the oligo Lb1 (SEQ. ID. NO:6) corresponding to the sequence of amino acids 5 to 10 of the amino terminus of isoforms I and II, and the Lb-nested oligo (SEQ.ID.NO:7), which comprises the last base of aa 7, and those from 8 to 12, and the first two bases of aa 13. The first was used for the PCR reaction while the second was used for a confirmatory PCR. In both cases, the commercial AUAP oligo (GIBCO) (SEQ ID NO:5), which recognizes specifically the sequence of the AP oligo of the same company, was used

The products of the PCR were purified in an gel extraction kit (ROCHE), following the directions of the manufacturer. They were afterwards hybridized with (and bound to) to the pCR 2.1-TOPO (3.9 Kb) (Invitrogen) cloning vector linearized by the TOPO isomerase, which shows a salient T in both chains, obtaining the plasmid with the insert (product of PCR 30). These constructions were used to transform the cells of E. coli XL1 blue strain. The selection of the clones that comprised an insert was performed by plating the transforming cells in Petri dishes with LB/agar with ampicillin in the presence of X-Gal, selecting the white colonies to amplify the plasmids. Thirteen positive colonies were obtained.

Of the 13 positive colonies, only 7 contained an insert of the correct size. The plasmidic DNAs were sequenced in both chains using fluorescent nucleotides in a Perkin Elmer Applied Biosystems apparatus (Foster City, Calif., USA), as described by the manufacturer. Of the 7 positive clones, one was selected for having the most clearly and unequivocally identified sequence, clone 30-8, with an approximate size of 900 pb.

EXAMPLE 4 Expression of the Partial Clone of L. Boneti

In order to be able to express the recombinant protein obtained in the previous example, the cDNA was subcloned in the pTrcHIS-TOPO (INVITROGEN) expression vector. With the purpose of placing the gene in phase in the plasmid, 2 oligonucleotides were designed: the direct one, incomplete Lb5′ (SEQ.ID.NO:22), from the codifying sequences of amino acids 5 to 9 of the amino terminus of isoforms I and II (the first 5 of the insert cloned in the previous step), plus the recognizing site for the enzyme BamHI and 3 more bases so that the enzyme binds; and the reverse oligo, Lb3′Sal I (SEQ.ID.NO:9), from the codifying sequence of the aa 275 and 279 (the last 5 of the carboxyl terminus of L. boneti's sphingomyelinase D), plus the terminus codon, plus the recognizing site of the enzyme Sal O and 4 more bases to bind the enzyme. With the plasmid of clone 30-8 as a template and using the designed direct and reverse oligos as primers, a PCR reaction was performed obtaining a DNA fragment that comprises the codifying sequence of the recombinant protein with the 5 to 279 amino acids of the sphingomyelinase of L. boneti, with a BamH I cut site in the 5′ terminus, and a Sal I cut site in the 3′ terminus.

Both the pTrcHIS-TOPO expression vector and the above mentioned PCR product were digested with the BamH I and Sal I enzymes and bound to obtain the pTrcHIS-TOPO 30-8 plasmid, being transformed in electro-competent cells of E. coli XL1 blue. Three (3) positive colonies that carried the pTrcHIS-TOPO 30-8 plasmid; they had an insert of the correct size (as observed in a gel, after releasing the insert by digesting the plasmid with BamH I and Sal I) and they were obtained and confirmed by sequencing.

To express the recombinant protein, each of the 3 colonies obtained was cultured in 3 mL of LB medium in the presence of ampicillin 100 μg/mL at 37° C. overnight with stirring, afterwards they were transferred to a 500-mL LB flask with ampicillin. Once the culture reached an optical density of 0.6 OD₆₀₀, expression was induced with 1 mM IPTG for 3 hours at 37° C. with stirring. The cells were harvested by centrifugation (8,000 rpm, 15 min) and resuspended in 5 mL of A buffer (NaH2PO4 100 mM, TRIS-HCl 10 mM pH8 and Guanidinium Chloride 6M) and sonicated afterwards for 6 cycles of 30 sec each with intervals of 1 min in ice. Then, it was centrifuged for 25 min at 10,000 rpm. The supernatat was run through a nickel (Ni-NTA agarose) (Qiagen) column to purify the protein. Once the purification was concluded, it was dialized against PBS to eliminate the guanidinium chloride, but the protein precipitated. The precipitated protein was quantified by BCA (PIERCE), but when tested as an immunogen in rabbits, it didn't yield good results. Based on this, we decided to plicate the protein in vitro.

To plicate the protein in vitro, it was solubilized by placing it in the presence of 5M of guanidinium chloride plus 30 M of DTT for 2 hours at room temperature. After this time, the protein was dialyzed against a solution with 2M of guanidinium chloride, 4 mM reduced glutathione (GSH), and 2 mM of oxidized glutathione (GSSG) in PBS 1× pH 47.4, for 1 hour. These dialysis were repeated with decreasing concentrations of guanidinium chloride, keeping those of GSH and GSSG constant, except in the last dialysis step in which they were eliminated from the solution; the protein remained in PBS 1× pH 7.4, recovering 80% of the protein in a soluble form. The solubilized protein lacked sphingomyelinase and dermonecrotic activity, and the antibodies generated in rabbits with this recombinant protein were able to recognize the recombinant protein itself and the dermonecrotic component of the whole venom detected by Western Blot; however, they were unable to neutralize the toxocity of said venom.

EXAMPLE 5 Isolation of the Complete Clone with Complete L. Boneti. Sphingomyelinase D

In order to obtain a codifying sequence of the complete sphingomyelinase D of L. boneti (i.e., from the first amino acid of the amino terminus region up to the last in the carboxyl terminus region), we designed oligonucleotide Lb5′BAM HI (SEQ.ID.NO:8), which also includes the necessary sequence for the Bam H1 site, the codifying codons of the first 4 aa of the amino terminus of L. boneti's sphingomyelinase D, plus the next 5 amino acids already present in the original product of the PCR obtained from the 30-8 clone. A PCR reaction was carried out using the pTrcHIS-TOPO 30-8 plasmid as a template and the LB5′BamH1 oligo as direct primer and the same Lb3′Sal I oligo (SEQ.ID.NO:9) as reverse primer, obtaining a DNA fragment that comprises the complete codifying sequence of L. boneti's sphingomyelinase, flanked by the cut sites of BamH I and Sal I. This fragment was cloned in the TOPO 2.1 (3.9 Kb) plasmid, transforming competent cells of E. coli XL1 blue; 4 positive colonies were obtained, of which the nucleotidic sequence of the insert was proven by sequencing. A larger amount of plasmid was produced, and the insert, which comprises the complete codifying gene (SEQ. ID. NO: 10) of the active recombinant protein SMDrLb (SEQ. ID. NO: 11), was released by digestion with the Bam HI and Sal I enzymes. The insert was purified using a purification kit (ROCHE) and bound to the pQE30 vector, previously digested with the same restriction enzymes, obtaining vector PQE30Lb-8c3.1.

EXAMPLE 6 Expression of the Complete SMDrLb Clone

The product of binding with the plasmid PQE30Lb-8c3.1 was used to transform competent cells of E. coli BL21, which, when plated, produced 3 positive clones, confirming the presence of the DNA fragment that comprises the complete codifying sequence of L. boneti's sphingomyelinase D, as could be corroborated by restriction analysis with Bam HI and Sal I enzymes.

The clone used for the expression was called PQE30Lb-8c3.1. For that purpose, it was cultured at 37° C. in LB plus ampicillin up to an OD of 0.6; it was later induced with 1 mM of IPTG for 3 hours. Again, the protein was expressed in considerable amounts, but in inclusion bodies, whose sphingomyelinase D activity was negligible.

EXAMPLE 7 Controlled Expression of the Complete Clone of L. Boneti's Sphingomyelinase D

In order to control the expression level of the recombinant SMDrLb protein, the clone PQE30Lb-8c3.1 was incubated in 50 mL of LB with ampicillin at 37° C. overnight; the cells were transferred to a flask with 1 L of the same medium. Once an OD₆₀₀ of 0.6 was reached, the culture was induced with IPTG (0.1 mM), and it was incubated for 16 hours at a lower temperature (20-22° C.) with stirring. The cells were recovered by centrifugation (10 min at 8,000 rpm). The cell package was resuspended in 20 mL of PBS, sonicated for 6 cycles of 30 seconds at intervals of 1 min in ice, and centrifuged again for 25 min at 10,000 rpm. A protein with the expected molecular weight (32 Kda) was found both in the supernatant and in the pellet

The soluble recombinant protein was purified by running the supernatant through an NiTA (nickel tri-nitrile-acetic, QIAGEN) column, where the recombinant protein attaches to the metal due to high affinity of the 6 histidine tail. It was subsequently washed with 15 volumes of PBS and with 10 volumes of PBS plus imidazole 25 mM, and finally eluted the recombinant protein with PBS plus 250 mM of imidazole. The elusion was collected and dialyzed against PBS to eliminate the imidazole that was still present. The sphingomyelinase activity was measured and turned out to be 31.5 U/mg, i.e., practically the same as the activity found for the native isoform I.

EXAMPLE 8 Production of Neutralizing Antibodies from the Active Recombinant Protein SMDrLb

With the active recombinant soluble protein SMDrLb produced as set forth in Example 7, two 3.5-Kg New Zealand rabbits were inoculated with a scheme of 8 inoculations at 10-day intervals, with increasing amounts of the recombinant protein, from 30 to 100 μg/rabbit of (active) soluble recombinant protein in PBS. Inoculations were applied intradermically in a final volume of 1 mL, with 0.5 mL of Freund's adjuvant, complete for the first inoculation and incomplete for the subsequent inoculations.

Ten days after the eighth inoculation, the antibody titre was measured, and it was 22,800 for one rabbit and 29,300 for the other. The rabbits were bled to death, and the serum of both rabbits was separated and mixed (50/50% in volume).

To determine the median effective dose (ED50) of the serum mixture, 3 challenges were performed with different amounts of the same recombinant protein SMDrLb, 7.8, 15.45 y 18.1 μg/mouse. For that purpose, groups of 4 Balb-C mice weighing 18-20 g were used; they were injected with a pre-incubated (30 min at 37° C.) mixture of the SMDrLb protein with increasing amounts (from 100-200 μL) of the serum mixture of the 2 inoculated rabbits in SS (NaCl 0.15 M), obtaining the following ED50; Mean while in a similar assay, 92 μg of the native venom of pre-incubated L. boneti with increasing amounts of the homologous serum (anti-SMDLrLb) were applied, thus obtaining an ED50 of 149.6 μg per mouse, which for the 92 μg are equivalent to 3LD50.

SMDrLb quantity ED50  7.8 μg 154.6 μl 15.5 μg 258.7 μl 18.1 μg 276.5 μl

The calculations were made using the GraphPad Prism software (Version 2; GraphPad Software, Inc, San Diego, Calif.).

EXAMPLE 9 Isolation of Complete Clones of L. Recluse Sphingomyelinase D

To isolate the clones of the necrotoxins, the total RNA of the venom glands of spiders was isolated using the TRIZOL reagent method (Gibco), following the protocol of the manufacturer. Kit 3′ RACE (Gibco) was used to synthetize the first chain. 2 μL of the total RNA (approximately 500 ng) extracted from glands, 4 μL of water, and 1 μL (10 pmoles) of the Adapter Primer (AP) oligonucleotide, which comprises a tail of poly-Ts (SEQ.ID. NO:4), were incubated for denaturalization at 70° C. for 10 min and cooled immediately in ice. 2 μL of PCR 10× buffer, 1 μL of dNTPs (10 mM), 2 μL of MgCl2 (25 mM) and 2 μL of DTT (0.1 M) were added, preincubating them for 2-4 min at 42° C. 1 μL of Reverse Transcriptase (Invitrogen) was added immediately; it was mixed and incubated for 50 min at 42° C. The enzyme was inactivated by incubation for 15 min at 70° C., and the compound was immediately cooled in ice for 1 minute. 1 μL of RNAsa H was added, and it was incubated for 20 min at 37° C. and stored at −80° C.

In order to do the polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a sample was taken (2 μL) of the reaction made with the first chain and it was added PCR buffer 10× Mg²⁺ (100 mM TRIS-HCL pH 8.3, 500 mM KCl 15 mM MgCl₂,), 200 μM dNTPs, 20 μmoles of the direct oligonucleotide (in the 5′-3′ sense). In this case we used the same LB5′Bam H1 oligonucleotide (SEQ. ID. NO:8) which includes in addition to the necessary sequence for the BamH1 site, the codifying codons of the first 9 AAs of the amino terminus of L. reclusa sphingomyelinase D. 20 μmoles of the reverse oligonucleotide (in the 3′-5′ sense), the reverse Lb3?Sal I (SEQ. ID. NO: 9) oligo and two units of the Taq DNA Polymerase (New England Biolabs, Beverly, Mass., USA) in a final volume of 50 μL. The reaction was performed using a Perkin Elmer 9600 thermocyclator with the following protocol: Incubation of the mixture for 3 min. at 94° C., followed by 25 cycles of three incubation steps: 1 min at 94° C., 90 sec at 48° C., and 2 min at 72° C. At the end, a step of 10 min at 72° C. The Taq DNA polymerase binds to the 3′ extremes, a useful A to hybridize with the T of the 5′ extremes of the cloning vector pCR 2.1 TOPO (3.9 Kb).

The products of the PCR were purified in an extraction kit (ROCHE), following the directions of the manufacturer. They were subsequently hybridized with (bound to) the pCR 2.1-TOPO (3.9 Kb) (Invitrogen) cloning vector linearized by the TOPO isomerase, which shows a salient T in both chains, obtaining the plasmids pCR 2.1-TOPO Lr1 and pCR 2.1-TOPO Lr2 that comprise the insert produced by PCR, Lr1 and Lr2, respectively. These constructions were used to transform the cells of E. coli XL1 blue strain. The selection of the clones that comprised an insert was performed by plating the transforming cells in Petri dishes with LB/agar with ampiciline in the presence of X-Gal, selecting the white colonies to amplify the plasmids. Five positive colonies were obtained.

Of the 5 positive colonies, only 2 (Lr1 and Lr2) contained an insert of the correct size. The plasmidic DNAs were sequenced in both chains using fluorescent nucleotides in a Perkin Elmer Applied Biosystems apparatus (Foster City, Calif., USA), as described by the manufacturer. The 2 positive clones were selected because they had the sequence most clearly identified as sphingomyelinase D and with variations among them (90% identity). Both clones, with an approximate size of 900 pb, comprised respectively the complete codifying sequences of two isoforms of the sphingomyelinase D of L. reclusa (SEQ. ID. No: 12 and SEQ. ID. No: 14) whereas the codified proteins (SMDrLr1 and SMDrLr2) had the amino acidic sequences SEQ.ID. No: 13 y SEQ.ID. No: 15. For each of them, the insert, which comprises the gene of the corresponding SMDrLr, was released by digestion with the enzymes Bam HI and Sal I. Each insert was purified using a purification kit (ROCHE) and bound to the pQE30 vector, previously digested with the same restriction enzymes, obtaining vectors PQE30Lr1 and PQE30Lr2.

EXAMPLE 10 Controlled Expression of the Complete Clones of SMDrLr

In order to control the expression level of the recombinant protein (both SMDLr1 and SMDrLr2), the cells of E. coli BL21 transformed with vector PQE30Lr1 or PQE30Lr2 were incubated in 3 mL of LB with ampicillin at 37° C. overnight; they were transferred to a flask with 100 mL of the same medium containing 1 mM of IPTG, and they were incubated for 16 hours at a temperature of 20-22° C. The cells were recovered by centrifugation (10 min at 10,000 rpm). The cell package was resuspended in 5 mL of PBS, sonicated for 6 cycles of 30 seconds at intervals of 1 min in ice, and centrifuged again for 25 min at 10,000 rpm. A protein with the expected molecular weight (32 Kda) was found both in the supernatant and in the pellet.

The soluble recombinant proteins SMDrLr1 and SMDrLr2 were purified by running the supernatant through a NiTA (nickel tri-nitrile-acetic, QIAGEN) column, where the recombinant protein attaches to metal due to the high affinity of the 6 histidine tail. They were subsequently washed with 10 volumes of PBS and with 10 volumes of PBS plus imidazole 25 mM, and finally eluting the recombinant protein with PBS plus 250 mM of imidazole. The elusion was collected and dialyzed against PBS to eliminate the imidazole that was present. The sphingomyelinase activity was measured and turned out to be 27.2 U/mg for SMDrLr1, i.e., practically the same as the activity found for the native isoform and 11.47 U/mg for SMDrLr2.

EXAMPLE 11 Production of Neutralizing Antibodies from the Active Recombinant Protein SMDrLr1

One of the recombinant proteins was selected: SMDrLr1. With the protein produced as set forth in Example 10, two 3.5-Kg New Zealand rabbits were inoculated with a scheme of 8 inoculations at 10-day intervals with increasing amounts of the recombinant protein, from 30 to 100 μg/rabbit of (active) soluble recombinant protein in PBS. Inoculations were applied intradermically in a final volume of 1 mL, with 0.5 mL of Freund's adjuvant, complete for the first inoculation and incomplete for the subsequent inoculations.

The antibody titre was measured; it was 26,000 for one rabbit and 33,000 for the other one. The rabbits were bled to death, and the serum of both rabbits was separated and mixed (50/50% in volume).

To determine the median effective dose (ED50) of the serum mixture, groups of 4 Balb-C mice weighing 18-20 g were used; they were injected with a pre-incubated (30 min at 37° C.) mixture of the SMDrLr1 toxin with increasing amounts of the serum mixture of the 2 inoculated rabbits, in SS (NaCl 0.15 M).

The median effective dose of the anti-SMDrLr1 antivenom against the active recombinant protein proved to be 165 μL for mice, with 12 μg of protein. The calculations were made using the GraphPad Prism software (Version 2; GraphPad Software, Inc, San Diego, Calif.); Mean while, in a similar assay, 12 μg of the native venom of L. reclusa pre-incubated with increasing quantities of the homologous serum (anti-SMDrLr1), were applied to each mouse, and was found an ED50 of 175 μL per mouse with 12 μg of homologous venom

EXAMPLE 12 Isolation of the Complete Clones of the Complete Sphingomyelinase D of L. Laeta

We proceeded as in Example 9, but using venom glands from L. laeta as the source of transcripts. The direct oligo LI5′BamH1 (SEQ.ID.NO:16) and the reverse oligo LI3′Sal I (SEQ.ID.NO:17) were used for the PCR. These were designed based on the sequences reported for the Brazilian variety (Fernandes Pedrosa, et al., 2002), whose products were purified and selected in the same way, obtaining 2 clones with a clearly identified sequence and with variations between them (88% of identity); these products comprised, respectively, the complete codifying sequences of two isoforms of the sphingomyelinase D of L. laeta (SEQ. ID. No: 18 and SEQ. ID. No: 20), while the codified proteins (SMDrLl1 And SMDrLl2) had the amino acidic sequences SEQ.ID. No: 19 and SEQ.ID. No: 21. Finally, they were subclonated in the plasmid pQE30, obtaining vectors PQE30Ll1 and PQE30Ll2, ready for expression.

EXAMPLE 13 Controlled Expression of the Complete SMDrLl1 Clone

Two clones, SMDrLl1 and SMDrLl2, were selected for expression. To achieve a controlled expression, so as to prevent all of the recombinant protein from being expressed as inclusion bodies, we proceeded as in Example 10, but transforming the cells with vectors PQE30Ll1 and PQE30Lr2. The recombinant proteins thus produced had an activity of 58.43 U/mg for SMDrLl1 and of 252 U/mg for SMDrLl2.

EXAMPLE 14 Production of Neutralizing Antibodies from the Active Recombinant Protein SMDrLl1

We proceeded in a manner similar to Example 11, but using the SMDrLl1 protein from Example 13 to inoculate the animals. The titers reached values of up to 34,300, and an ED50 of 200 μL per mouse with 12 μg of SMDrLl1 and of 225 μL per mouse with 12 μg of the homologous venom was found.

EXAMPLE 15 Cross-Protection Assays

Cross-protection assays were successfully carried out challenging mice with 12 μg of L. boneti venom or SMDrLb protein; we found that an ED50 of 112 μL of rabbit anti-SMDrLr serum per mouse, and 200 μL of the same per mouse were enough to neutralize 100% of the toxic effect of the venom. In the same way, mice were challenged with 12 μg of native venom of L. reclusa or SMDrLr1 protein, and it was found that between 160 and 200 μL of rabbit anti-SMDrLb serum were enough to neutralize its toxic effect.

EXAMPLE 16 Subcloning of Clones Lb1, Lr1, Lr2, and Ll2 with Histidines in the Carboxyl Position

To demonstrate that the inclusion of the histidine tail in the amino terminus of the recombinant SMD proteins object of this invention (amino versions) has no significant effect on the effectiveness of the protein, some of the clones: Lb1, Lr1, Lr2 and Ll2 were subclonated in the pQE60 plasmid that adds the histidine tail to the carboxyl terminus instead of the amino terminus. For this purpose, the same oligos were used: Lb5′Bam H1 (for Lb1, Lr1 and Lr2) and Ll5′Bam H1 (for Ll2) as direct oligos, and Lb3′ Bg1 II (SEQ.ID.NO: 23) and Ll3′ Bg1 II (SEQ.ID.NO: 24), respectively, as reverse oligos. The constructions were expressed in a controlled manner in strains of E. coli BL21 in the same way as in Examples 7, 10, and 13. The recombinant proteins thus produced (carboxyl version), presented essentially the same SMD activities as the amino versions.

EXAMPLE 17 Production of Antibodies in Horses, Against a Mixture of Several of the Recombinant Proteins of the 3 Loxosceles Species

To further illustrate the ability of the recombinant proteins of this invention to generate neutralizing antibodies in vertebrates, particularly in mammals, this time a horse was selected for the generation of antibodies. At the same time, to illustrate the possibility of using an immunogenic composition that comprises more than one of the recombinant proteins of this invention, 4 of them which were considered sufficiently representative were selected to neutralize the venoms of at least 3 species of the Loxosceles spider, some in their amino version and others in their carboxyl version. In this way, the immunogenic composition was composed of 2 parts of SMDrLr1 (amino version or SMDrLr1-NH2), 2 parts of SMDrLb (carboxyl version or SMDrLb-COOH), 1 part of SMDrLl1 (amino version or SMDrLl1-NH2) and 1 part of SMDrLl2 (carboxyl version or SMDrLl2-COOH).

Five horses that had never been immunized or had never had contact with any antigen related to the Loxosceles spider were selected and inoculated with the immunogenic composition mentioned in the previous paragraph. The inoculation was carried out over a period of 9 months, starting with a dose of 2.5 μg of the recombinant toxin mixture and ending with 250 μg. The inoculations were performed at intervals of two weeks, and Freund's adjuvant and alumina were used, alternately, as adjuvants. The inoculation was performed subcutaneously. Blood samples were taken from the horses at one-month intervals in order to measure the antibody titers by immunoenzymatic assay.

The horses were bled at the end of the nine-month period, and the plasma was mixed and processed to produce F(ab′)2 fragments by digestion with the pepsin enzyme and its subsequent purification. The median effective dose of the F(ab′)2 fragments was determined in a similar way to that described in Example 8. Fourteen (14) groups of 5 Balb-C mice weighing 18-20 g were used. Two groups were immunized (one control and one treated with F(ab′)2 fragments) for each of the following recombinant proteins (recombinant toxins) or venoms: SMDrLr1-NH2, SMDrLb-COOH, SMDrLl1-NH2, SMDrLl2-COOH, venom of L. boneti, venom of L. reclusa, and venom of L. laeta For this purpose, they were injected with a pre-incubated mixture (30 min at 37° C.) of 5LD50 of the recombinant protein or venom, either with increasing amounts (from 100-200 μL) of the F(ab′)2 fragments obtained, in SS (NaCl 0.15 M) for the treatment groups, or with SS only for the control groups. From the ED50s determined by using the above-mentioned GraphPad Prism software, the amounts of neutralized toxin or venom per 1 mg of F(ab′)2 fragments (neutralizing ability) were calculated, and they are shown below:

μg of toxin or venom Recombinant toxin neutralized per mg of or natural venom F(ab′)2 fragments SMDrLb-COOH 251 SMDrLr1-NH2 235 SMDrLl1-NH2 55 SMDrLl2-COOH 105 L. boneti venom 629 L. reclusa venom 587 L. laeta venom 394

EXAMPLE 18 Obtaining Toxoids of SMDrLb

Based on the recently reported (Murakami et al., 2005) identification of the catalytic center of one of the isoforms of the sphingomyelinase D of L. laeta, we decided to perform mutagenesis on the codifying DNA of SMDrLb (SEQ. ID.NO:10), a mutant in the codifying codon of the histidine residue in position 11, and the other one in the codifying codon for the glutamic acid residue in position 31, both counted in the mature protein. The first mutant obtained, designated SMDrLb(H11K), consisted of substituting the histidine in position 11 for a lysine; it has a SEQ.ID.NO:27 for its codifying sequence and SEQ.ID.NO:28 for the mature expressed protein. The second mutant, designated SMDrLb(E31K), consisted of substituting the glutamic acid in position 31 for a lysine; it has a SEQ.ID.NO:29 for its codifying sequence and a SEQ.ID.NO:30 for the expressed mature protein.

To obtain the mutants, clone PQE30Lb-8c3.1 and the QuickChange directed mutagenesis kit (QuickChange Site-Directed Mutagenesis Kit) (Stratagene, La Jolla, Calif., USA) were used, following the protocol recommended by the company (Papworth, C. et al., 1996).

The two mutants, SMDrLb(H11K) and SMDrLb(E31K), incorporated in the pQE30 vector were isolated and expressed in a controlled way in the E. coli BL21 strain, in a way similar to the one described for SMDrLb in Example 7.

Both proteins were successfully expressed in a soluble form (and part of them as inclusion bodies). Their sphingomyelinase D enzymatic activity was analyzed by the method described previously, and its result was null. Additionally, dermonecrosis tests were performed on rabbits, which demonstrated that they lack this effect.

To determine if these enzymatically inactive and non-dermonecrotic versions expressed in a soluble form were capable of generating neutralizing antibodies for the active SMDrLb or the venom of L. boneti, for each of the mutants, two 3.5-kg New-Zealand rabbits were inoculated with a scheme of 8 inoculations, at 10-day intervals, with increasing amounts of the recombinant protein, from 30 to 100 μg/rabbit of recombinant soluble protein (inactive) in PBS. Inoculations were performed intradermically in a final volume of 1 mL, with 0.5 mL of Freund's adjuvant, complete for the first inoculation and incomplete for the subsequent inoculations.

In both cases, titers that varied from between 25,200 and 31,500 were obtained. For each case, the rabbits were bled to death, and the serum of both rabbits was separated and mixed (50/50% in volume).

To determine the median effective dose, ED50, of the serum mixture of each case, groups 4 of Balb-C mice weighing 18-20 g were used. They were injected with a pre-incubated (30 min at 37° C.) mixture of 12 μg of SMDrLb toxin with increasing amounts of the serum mixture of the 2 inoculated rabbits, in SS (NaCl 0.15 M).

From the ED50s determined using the GraphPad Prism software, the amounts of neutralized toxin or venom per 1 mL of each of the sera (neutralizing ability) were calculated, and they are shown below:

μg of toxin or venom neutralized per mL of serum Recombinant toxin anti- anti- or natural venom SMDrLb(H11K) SMDrLb(E31K) SMDrLb-COOH 58.5 53.8 L. boneti venom 162.5 151.1

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1. A pharmaceutical composition for passive immunization comprising polyclonal antibodies or antigen binding fragments thereof, wherein the polyclonal antibodies or the antigen binding fragments thereof obtained from animals immunized with a mixture from the following antigens of genus Loxosceles: sphingomyelinase D recombinant Loxosceles boneti (SMDrLb1) of SEQ ID NO: 11; sphingomyelinase D recombinant Loxosceles reclusa (SMDrLr1) of SEQ ID NO: 13; sphingomyelinase D recombinant Loxosceles laeta (SMDrLl1) of SEQ ID NO: 19; and sphingomyelinase D recombinant Loxosceles laeta (SMDrLl2) of SEQ ID NO:
 21. 2. The pharmaceutical composition of claim 1, wherein the antigen binding fragments thereof are F(ab′)₂ fragments.
 3. A method of treating envenomation comprising administrating the pharmaceutical composition of claim 1, to a subject effective to treat such envenomation caused by one or more of the spiders of genus Loxosceles selected form the group consisting of: L. laeta, L. boneti, and L. reclusa.
 4. An immunogenic pharmaceutical composition comprising a mixture of the following recombinant antigens of genus Loxosceles: SMDrLb1 of SEQ ID NO: 11, SMDrLr1 of SEQ ID NO: 13, SMDrLl1 of SEQ ID NO: 19, SMDrLl2 of SEQ ID NO:
 21. 5. A method to produce polyclonal antibodies comprising the following steps: i) mixing the following antigens in proportion 2:2:1:1 respectively: SMDrLb1 of SEQ ID NO: 11, SMDrLr1 of SEQ ID NO: 13, SMDrLl1 of SEQ ID NO: 19, SMDrLl2 of SEQ ID NO:
 21. ii) immunizating a non-human animal with the mixture thereof in step i), iii) obtaining blood serum and isolating the antibodies that capable of neutralizing the venom of one or more of the spiders L. laeta, L. boneti and L. reclusa.
 6. The method of claim 5 wherein the immunization step (ii) is carried out in Eqqus caballus. 